The Young Fur Traders

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Robert Michael Ballantyne. The Young Fur Traders

Preface

Chapter One. Plunges the reader into the middle of an Arctic winter; conveys him into the heart of the wildernesses of North America; and introduces him to some of the principal personages of our tale

Chapter Two. The old fur-trader endeavours to “fix” his son’s “flint,” and finds the thing more difficult to do than he expected

Chapter Three. The counting-room

Chapter Four. A wolf-hunt in the prairies—Charley astonishes his father, and breaks in the “noo ’oss” effectually

Chapter Five. Peter Mactavish becomes an amateur doctor; Charley promulgates his views of things in general to Kate; and Kate waxes sagacious

Chapter Six. Spring and the voyageurs

Chapter Seven. The store

Chapter Eight. Farewell to Kate—Departure of the brigade—Charley becomes a voyageur

Chapter Nine. The voyage—The encampment—A surprise

Chapter Ten. Varieties, vexations, and vicissitudes

Chapter Eleven. Charley and Harry begin their sporting career, without much success—Whisky-John catching

Chapter Twelve. The storm

Chapter Thirteen. The canoe—Ascending the rapids—The portage—Deer-shooting, and life in the woods

Chapter Fourteen. The Indian camp—The new outpost—Charley sent on a mission to the Indians

Chapter Fifteen. The feast—Charley makes his first speech in public, and meets with an old friend—An evening in the grass

Chapter Sixteen. The return—Narrow escape—A murderous attempt, which fails—And a discovery

Chapter Seventeen. The scene changes—Bachelor’s Hall—A practical Joke and its consequences—A snow-shoe walk at night in the forest

Chapter Eighteen. The walk continued—Frozen toes—An encampment in the snow

Chapter Nineteen. Shows how the accountant and Harry set their traps and what came of it

Chapter Twenty. The accountant’s story

Chapter Twenty One. Ptarmigan-hunting—Hamilton’s shooting powers severely tested—A snowstorm

Chapter Twenty Two. The winter packet—Harry hears from old friends, and wishes that he was with them

Chapter Twenty Three. Changes—Harry and Hamilton find that variety is indeed charming—The latter astonishes the former considerably

Chapter Twenty Four. Hopes and fears—An unexpected meeting—Philosophical talk between the hunter and the parson

Chapter Twenty Five. Good news and romantic scenery—Bear-hunting and its results

Chapter Twenty Six. An unexpected meeting, and an unexpected deer-hunt—Arrival at the outpost—Disagreement with the natives—An enemy discovered, and a murder

Chapter Twenty Seven. The chase—The fight—Retribution—Low spirits and good news

Chapter Twenty Eight. Old friends and scenes—Coming events cast their shadows before

Chapter Twenty Nine. The first day at home—A gallop in the prairie, and its consequences

Chapter Thirty. Love—Old Mr Kennedy puts his foot in it

Chapter Thirty One. The course of true love, curiously enough, runs smooth for once, and the curtain falls

Отрывок из книги

Snowflakes and sunbeams, heat and cold, winter and summer, alternated with their wonted regularity for fifteen years in the wild regions of the Far North. During this space of time the hero of our tale sprouted from babyhood to boyhood, passed through the usual amount of accidents, ailments, and vicissitudes incidental to those periods of life, and finally entered upon that ambiguous condition that precedes early manhood.

It was a clear, cold winter’s day. The sunbeams of summer were long past, and snowflakes had fallen thickly on the banks of Red River. Charley sat on a lump of blue ice, his head drooping and his eyes bent on the snow at his feet with an expression of deep disconsolation.

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Charley’s eyes had been cast on the ground while Mr Grant was speaking. He now raised them, looked at his father, then at his interrogator, and said—

“It is very kind of you both to be so anxious about my prospects. I thank you, indeed, very much; but I—a—”

.....